Health: Wishing I could still use school as an excuse not to work out

I'm just going to come right out and say it: Ever since I met my now-husband, my motivation to work out has slowly dwindled to where I find myself right now. That's right – I'm admitting that impressing the opposite sex is a darn good motivator to stay in shape.

Not even a pending event – such as the start of girls mountain bike rides in April – is helping to get me off the couch and to the gym so that I don't make a fool out of myself.

I'm prone to procrastination. After all, the next big thing I am doing is the Warrior Dash, which is in August, so can't I wait another couple months to prepare? The event looks like a lot of fun but a lot of work at the same time: tire hopping, fire jumping, river running, and hill, rope and wall climbing are just a few of the activities in the course. (Those latter two have made me evaluate my strength. I tried going across the monkey bars while at the park with my niece, and let's just say I didn't get very far.)

Apparently only for kids ...

I can no longer use school as an excuse, so I may as well map out a plan to get myself back into the habit of moving. I am going to use this blog as a tool for motivation. So without further ado, here are three things I vow to do in the next three months to get a kickstart on staying healthy. My mood will thank me for it:

1. Work out 5 times a week for a minimum 30 minutes each time.
Right now I am doing the absolute minimum of 2-3 times a week, with 30 minutes on the stationary bike at the gym. It's not like I'm busy on the other days so I don't have an excuse.

2. As part of the above, attend two classes at the Rec Center a week.
Somehow attending fitness classes makes me work twice as hard as when I create my own workout. I like the cardio/sculpt class at the Longmont Rec Center, and should start spinning there as well.

3. Return to MyFitnessPal.com to track my diet.
It's a great tool that keeps track of calories for you. The first time I used it, I was shocked at how many calories I was actually eating. That knowledge alone helped me eat less. It also accounts for exercise, so that when you do get off the couch, it adds to the amount of calories you can eat that day. That's pretty good motivation, if you ask me.

I'll post an update every week on this blog on how well I did meeting the above three goals.

Happy Exercising!